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A Tale of Two Blind Men



#DAYLIGHT – Daily #MenOfLight
#GospelReflection
February 19, 2020
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Feast of St. Conrad of Piacenza
Gospel: Mk 8: 22 – 26
Sharer: Bro. Mike Lapid

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Gospel
22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” 24 And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

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Reflection

A TALE OF TWO BLIND MEN

Today’s gospel is about a blind man who was brought to Jesus by people who begged him to touch the blind man. Jesus takes the blind man by the hand and after putting spittle on the blind man’s eyes and laying his hands on him, the man began to see, though imperfectly. It took Jesus a second time laying his hands on him before finally, the blind man was able to see perfectly. 
The story may look simple enough but there is, however, something odd about this narrative. Mark apparently presents this story as though Jesus’ healing power was weak and couldn’t effect a complete and immediate recovery of the blind man’s sight. Jesus, in fact, needed to lay his hands on the man a second time in order to completely heal and make the blind man see perfectly again. Was this an indication of Jesus’ weak power? Or was  Mark trying to tell us something else?
Incidentally, in another part of Mark’s gospel, there is another blind man by the name of Bartimaeus. Unlike the anonymous blind man in today’s reading, Bartimaeus wasn’t brought to Jesus by people who pitied him. Bartimaeus  caught the attention of everyone including Jesus’ attention by yelling and crying out Jesus’ name at the top of his voice. Jesus, upon seeing Bartimaeus’ faith, restored his sight immediately.
While both blind men recovered their sight in the end, there are some noticeable and striking differences in the narratives of these two blind men:
First, in the case of the anonymous blind man, Mark was silent about his faith. He was there led by people who tried to help him get healed by Jesus. In the case of Bartimaeus, however, Mark makes it clear that his faith in Jesus was great. By pointing out the differences in the faith of these two men, Mark is telling us a clear message: our lack of faith makes us blind and renders the grace and the power of God weak and ineffective, not because God’s power is weak in itself, but because our heart is slow to understand and unwilling to believe wholeheartedly in God’s power to heal and save. This is why Mark makes it appear that the man’s lack of faith made Jesus’ healing power seemingly ineffective.
Secondly, when the anonymous blind man was healed, he was sent home by Jesus and did not follow the Lord after being healed. In the case of Bartimaeus, however, as soon as he received his sight, he followed Jesus on the way. For Mark, whose central theme in his Gospel is the faithful following of the suffering Jesus, Bartimaeus becomes an important and clear prototype for all would be disciples of Jesus who remain with him even in his suffering on the cross.
The message of our reading is quite simple. We need to believe. We need to have faith in Jesus. Our lack of faith in Jesus makes us not only blind but also makes our healing slow and difficult for the Lord’s grace to penetrate the inmost recesses of our heart. Like Bartimaeus, we need to shout out and proclaim our faith and belief in Jesus who heals and saves. A lack of faith can make us blind. But a faith that is alive and great can allow God’s grace to become operative in our lives and can make us follow the Son of God ever more closely where he goes, even on his journey towards the cross where he would suffer and die for all of us. 
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Prayer
Jesus, when I lose faith, I become blind. My lack of faith makes it difficult for you to heal me. Do not give up on me Jesus, even when your grace apparently fails to penetrate my heart. Put your hand on me a second time around, or even perhaps a third or even a fourth time; but don’t give up on me until you fully restore my sight. Amen.
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Assignment
1.    Go to a quiet place where you can reflect by yourself and try identifying some of your behavior that you wished you could have changed long ago but could not until this day.
2.    Ask the Lord in faith to heal and touch you once more, just like the blind man who needed to be touched by Jesus for another time in order to be healed.
3.    Healed or not, follow Jesus on the way, just like Bartimaeus. Set your sight in following Jesus everyday.

#FaithandBlindness           #TwoBlindMen 
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Quote
Do not give up on me Jesus, even when your grace apparently fails to penetrate my heart.



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